Friday, 18 February 2005Cyclone Olaf has now passed Samoa and American Samoa
Super-Cyclone Olaf has passed directly over parts of American Samoa.
Officials at the Australian-Pacific Centre for Emergency and Disaster Information say that outlying islands have taken "a direct hit".
There was no loss of life reported on land, but concerns are growing for about 18 fishermen reported missing.
Cyclone Olaf, a category five tropical storm, has already passed nearby Samoa, causing limited damage but missing the main population centres.
The BBC correspondent in Australia said that Olaf had left a devastating mark on these remote communities, which are home to several hundred people.
The cyclone is now threatening the Cook Islands, which have already been hit by two powerful storms in the last two weeks.
Rescue Operation
Residents of the Manu'a Islands in American Samoa took shelter in schools and churches as Cyclone Olaf approached.
An international rescue operation has been launched for at least three fishing boats in trouble in the area.
A US coastguard aircraft has already located a fishing vessel missing east of American Samoa, and a New Zealand plane found some people in the sea near Samoa.
"We've just found three people in the water so we've dropped a life raft and communications equipment to them," New Zealand Rescue Coordination Center spokesman Steve Corbett told national radio.
But weather forecasters have said that for the most part Samoa and American Samoa have had "a very lucky" escape, our correspondent says.
(BBC News)
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Friday, 18 February 2005
Samoa
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